Process of composite photography



Sept. 8, 1953 A. w. TONDREAU ET AL 2,651,233

PROCESS OF COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY Filed Feb. 6, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 xSCREEN 5265?? (U. TOIVDIQEQU F96 0 60. 61965 I v INVENTORS S P 1953 A.w, TONDREAU EI'AL 2,651,233

PROCESS OF COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY Filed Feb. 6, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2194559760. 7U/V01Q679U F950 60. .6962? INVENTORS Sept. 8, 1953 A. w.TONDREAU ETAL 2,651,233

PROCESS OF COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY 4 Sheets-Sheet .5

Filed Feb. 6, 1950 a N rm m0 7 w 2 0F I. P B Q 1 Filed Feb. 6, 1950 7Sept. 8, 1953 'A. w. TONDREAU ETAL 2,651,233 PROCESS OF COMPOSITEPHOTOGRAPHY 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 423527 40. muoee u Fee-o (a. ame- INVENTORSRTTOENEV Patented Sept. 8, 1953 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,651,233PROCESS OF COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY Albert W. Tondreau, Westwood Village,and Fred W. Gage, Beverly Hills, Califi, assignors to Warner Bros.Pictures, Inc., Burbank, alif., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationFebruary 6, 1950, Serial No. 142,616

1 Claim. (01. 88-16) 1 This invention relates to the production of ofthe photogr p l ght speotrums and the motion pictures, and particularlyto a method of filters used in front of the cameras and illumiand systemfor photographing a scene or scenes nating sources. Another factor isthe method as components of a final picture and for comof and system forcombining the Components bining the components. 5 accurately in properperspective and registry,

In the art of motion picture'production, the the general method being ofth typ disclosed use of masks or mattes produced by different in PatentNo. 2,204,049 of June 11, 1940.

color spectrums is well-known, some of these The principal je f h v on,h eprior systems being disclosed in U. s. Patents No. f re, is t f clitat he prod c i n f mp i 2,461,127 of February 8, 1949, No. 1,897,494of motion pictures.

February 14, 1933, No. 2,173,518 of September 19, Another object of theinvention is to provide 1939, and many others, Patent No. 1,933,854 ofan mp o d h d f d System for p o November 7, 1933, disclosing the use ofvarying graphing p ts o a p ture and a mask intensities of ultra-violetlight in a rear-protherefor.

j ction screen type of process photography. The A further object of theinvention is to provide present invention is an improvement of thisgenan improved e hod of d System for omeral type of photography toprovide masks and bining compo en of a p tu Ph o ap d a picturecomponents which can be accurately regdifferent times.

istered, in which variations in density between A still further objectof the invention is to foreground and background components can beProvide an improved system of @0101 Separation controlled, and mostimportant of all, in which or a foreground scene and a matte therefor.the correct color values and definitions of the A still h r Object ofthe invention is to actual objects are provided. For instance, manyprovide an improved method of and System for of the former methods ofprocess color photogcombining foreground mp e m sks, a d raphy used toobtain simultaneouslyaforeground beekgl'ound mp n t in e t y d i dfcomponent and the mask therefor, do not obtain fei'ent ratiosany imagesof such elements as cigar o cigarette Although the novel features whichare believed smoke or water in a, glass, Thi i because of to becharacteristic of this invention will be the spectrum separation usedwhich does not pointed out With particularity in the pp permit allobjects to register as an image on the Claim, the manner o t Oranization and the emulsion, and thus, th final pictures are t mode ofits operation will be better understood commercial according topresent-day standards. y {referring t h following description, read inFurthermore, all prior systems were limited to o ln t With the ac mp ydrawings, a very shallow depth of focus; that is, the foreforming a phereof, 1n W ground was limited in its movements to a narrow 1 is adiagrammatic i of he photoregion in front of a screen. This was becauser phin y m f r imul n u ly obtaining a the prior systems used fixed lenspositions. The foreground d m sk ther for.

present invention permits the focus of the lenses Fig. 2 is adiagrammatic view of the phototo be adjusted during the photographing ofa graph ng y m for Ob i ao r n d 0m scene known as follow focus, whichthereby ponent.

permits unlimited foreground action to and from Fig. 3 is a graphshowing the cut-offs of the the camera, while still providing accuratelyregfilters used in the invention.

istering masks. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing how the Thepresent invention, therefore, simultaneforeground and bac groundcomponents are comously produces a foreground positive with all bined.

gradations of light or densities in the scene Fig. 5 is a diagrammaticview showing how the to record accurately all elements therein andforeground and background components may be simultaneously an accuratelyregistering mask combined in difierent ratios, and

with no limitations on the movements of the Fig. 6 is a diagrammaticview showing how the foreground to and from the camera. Theposiforeground component may be combined with a tive components andmasks may then be complurality of background components.

bined with one or more background components Referring now to Fig. 1,one end of a stage is to produce a final composite picture whichaprepresented by walls 5 6-, and 1, within which is pears, in allrespects, as though photographed positioneda translucent screen 9.Behind screen as an original. The chief factor is the selection 9, is apair of are light sources i3 and It, rich in ultra-violet light, andwhich are filtered by filters l5 and I6, respectively, the light therebyreaching the translucent screen lying within the range shown by curve Ain Fig. 3. These filters are preferably Corning type '1-39, which havehigh heat resisting qualities and which pass a light spectrum havingwavelengths between approximately 300 millimicrons and 400 millimicrons.

To represent a foreground component, an actress 20 is shown in front ofscreen 9, the actress being illuminated by light sources 2| and 22having light filters 23 and 24, respectively, in front thereof, thesefilters having a cut-off, as shown by curve B, and which may be aCorning type 3-74. Thus, the light frequencies on translucent screen 9are substantially entirely devoid of the light frequencies with whichthe foreground 20 is being illuminated, and, since the cut-off point isapproximatel 400 millimicrons, all visible light frequencies are presenton the foreground, and, therefore, variations in light intensities ofthe various elements in the foreground will appear as images in theforeground picture.

To obtain a photograph of the foreground 20 and simultaneously a masktherefor, a camera 25 is used, in front of which is a light filter 21having light transmitting Corning type filter, as shown by curve B inFig. 3. This filter has sufficient heat resisting qualities to make itsatisfactory for use at 23 and 24 as well as at 21. Since this filterpasses the full CP, reference is made qualities of the 3-14 visiblespectrum, there is no loss in definition of the foreground in the finalnegative, as shown at AN, or the positive printed therefrom, as shown atAP. However, since the light on the background screen 9 is eliminated byfilter 21, the background of AN will be clear and the background of APwill be opaque, but the foreground will have perfect black and white orcolor density variations of all objects therein.

To obtain the mask for the foreground 20, a camera 29 is used, in frontof which is a light filter 3|] having light transmitting qualitiessimilar to filters l5 and I6, as shown by curve C in Fig. 3, this filterbeing preferably a Corning type '1-60, since it is not necessary forthis filter to have heat resisting qualities. A light dividingreflector-transmitter or beam splitter is used at 3! to divide the lightbetween cameras 25 and 29, as is well-known in the art. Because offilters 15, H5, and 3B, the light reaching camera 29 will be only thatfrom screen 9, and the negativein the camera will appear as shown at BNand the positive as shown at BP, wherein the background of the negativeis opaque and the foreground thereof clear, while the positive will havethe reverse densities. The cameras 25 and 29 are operated insynchronism, or may be a camera of the type shown in Tondreau Patent No.2,422,270 of June 17, 1947, having a single frame pull-down and. a110-degree shutter opening. There is thus provided a foreground picturecomponent and simultaneously a matte therefor in exact registry with nodeterioration in foreground picture quality because of the lightspectrums employed. This spectrum division provides accurate foregrounddensities for both color and black and white components.

To obtain an appropriate background component, normal photography isused. That is, in accordance with the script or story, a background isphotographed as shown in Fig. 2 by any standard type of camera 33, thephotographed scene including, for example, a stream 34, a house 35,trees 36, and a hill outline 31. Assuming the sky above the hill line 31is clear and free of clouds, the negative of the scene in Fig. 2 willappear as shown at CN, and the positive printed therefrom will appear asshown at CP as a normal photograph.

To illustrate the simple combination of the foreground component asshown on print AP and the background component as shown on print to Fig.4, showing a camera 45, and light houses and projectors 4| and 42, theprints AP, BP, and CP being shown large in proportion to the units 40,4!, and 42 for purposes of illustration. A right-angled partialreflector with sections 44 and 45 is used to combine the components.With the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the final composite as impressedon the film in camera 40 will appear as shown at FC1 and includes theforeground 2|) of print AP and the background of print CP. The lightthrough print AP is reflected to camera 40 by the front surface ofsection 44, and the light through print CP, not stopped by the opaqueportion of matte BP, is reflected by section 45 and transmitted bysection 44 to camera 40. Since the projectors 4| and 42 are adjustableand the matte exactly corresponds to the outline of foreground 20 andthe projectors 4| and 42 and camera 4|] are operated in synchronism, thefinal positive from camera 40 will be as shown at F61. The filmsequences will be run simultaneously and the matte will accuratelyregister for all frames.

In Fig. 5, a system is illustrated, whereby the relative size betweenthe foreground component 25 and the background may be varied. In thisinstance, a projector unit 41 is coaxially positioned with respect tocamera 40 and the background positive CP and matte BP placed betweenreflector-transmitter 44-45 and the projector 41. By varying theposition of CP, various smaller portions thereof may be combined withforeground 20, thus giving a different perspective in the finalcomposite scene as shown at FC2. It will be noted that a lens 38 isshown between matte BP and background CP, this lens representing a zoomoptical unit, which is adjusted with the axial movement of CP andprojector 41 to provide the desirable proportion of CP with respect toAP. Mask BP stays fixed at all times, since it must correspond with 28in AP. The films are advanced by intermittent mechanisms not shown, butsince they are advanced in synchronism, perfect registry is obtained.The mechanisms for advancing the respective films are disclosed andclaimed in co-pending application, Ser. No. 192,927, filed October 30,1950, now Patent No. 2,622,415, issued December 23, 1952.

To combine two background components with a foreground component, thethree projectors 4|, 42, and 41 are used, the background component CPbeing given any fixed size ratio with respect to foreground 20, asexplained and shown in Fig. 5. Let us assume it is desired to place someclouds. 50, shown on print D of Fig. 6 obtained previously in the mannershown in Fig. 2, in the sky portion 5| of print CP. Two masks EN and EPare then made. This is accomplished by projecting CP on an opal glassand painting out the sky portion and then photographing the glass. Byprojecting and photographing with the same lens, perfect registry isobtained. The matte EN is then placed in front of print D. A print of ENproduces mask EP, which is placed in front of matte BP. With EN asshown, only light from the cloud portion 50 will reach camera 40 fromreflector 45 and transmitter 44. When EP is placed in front of matte BP,its opaque portion will block all light from the sky section of CP andBP will block all light from foreground 20. I'hus, the final compositewill appear as shown at F03, and will be composed of foreground 20, CP,and the clouds 50 mercial composite method and system is obtainedpattern making up the background components. It is also understood thatA composite photographing process for obtaining two images of a subject,the one having a background of a greater density and the other abackground of lesser density, which comprises positioning the subject infront of a translucent screen; placing illumina violet light back ofsaid ting means rich in ultramately 400 millimicrons; providing a lightdividing reflector-transmitter between the two filters last mentioned todivide the light from said screen and subject reaching said areasbetween them, whereby when said 1i are developed the positive pr beopaque and the subject have sharp color density va by the positiveprinted fro by the filter which transm low approximately 400 mi clearbackground of no d will appear opaque and without color thus providing amask of the said subject.

ght sensitive areas inted from the area transmits only light 00millimicrons will in said positive will riations, and wherem the areascreened its only light rays bellimicrons will have a ensity and thesubject variations,

ALBERT W. TONDREAU.

FRED W. GAGE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberNumber

